Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY — Thursday, 29 August 2019] p6117d-6118a Mr Terry Redman

HON TIM FISCHER, AC Statement by Member for Warren–Blackwood MR D.T. REDMAN (Warren–Blackwood) [12.58 pm]: I rise to pay tribute to former National Party of Australia leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Tim Fischer, AC. Sadly, Tim lost his battle with cancer last week and today our Nationals WA leader, Mia Davies, will attend his funeral in Albury. Fittingly, Tim Fischer will make the journey to his funeral by completing one last train ride. I am sure an akubra or two will feature among the crowd of wellwishers who will be there to pay their final respects at the Albury station. It is not just the National Party that has lost a great role model and a great leader. Tim Fischer appealed to the masses. He was a soldier, a farmer, a politician, a leader, an ambassador, an author, a husband, a father and, above all, a person of great dignity and honour. Known as “the boy from Boree Creek”, Mr Fischer was Leader of the National Party from 1990 to 1999, and Deputy Prime Minister in the Howard Government from 1996 to 1999. Tim was admitted as a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2005, and in 2009 was appointed as Australia’s first resident Ambassador to the Holy See. He oversaw the canonisation of Australia’s first saint, Mary MacKillop. Tim Fischer was genuinely loved by all sides of politics. He was a strong supporter of the National Party and a true champion for all those who call regional Australia home. The Deputy Prime Minister, Hon Michael McCormack, paid tribute to Mr Fischer as a giant of Australia, but more than that, he was a champion for regional and rural communities, and regional Australia had no better friend than Tim. On behalf of the Nationals WA, I offer condolences to Tim’s family—his wife, Judy, and sons, Harrison and Dominic. Vale, Tim Fischer.

[1]